It wasn't long before the chief finished interrogating the traveller. Hongxin knew the chief just need to investigate him by his own rather than hearing from the villagers. Soon, Kaine and the chief disappeared from his sight. Everyone continued minding their business while the chief's men were looking out for them in the hall, and Hongxin took this chance to go to his mother.
"Mother!" Hongxin called, his voice slowed down. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes mother is alright. About you..." her eyebrows furrowed, trying to find the correct words to say.
"Mother knows you're not the perpetrator."
Hongxin plastered a smile on his face, it was relieving to know that at least, his mother believed him too.
"I'm going to be fine, don't worry."
A hand caressed his cheeks, and Hongxin closed his eyes. He gave her a little nod, repeating his words. "Don't worry, don't worry."
Just then, the sound of the door opening caught his attention. Coincidentally, his eyes caught on Kaine's that just walked in. Ri Minsu walked in after him.
When the two of them came inside the building again, Ri Minsu was frowning from who knows what happened. Meanwhile, Kaine looked indifferent and proceeds to walk towards Hongxin.
Noticing his intentions, he pointed towards the side they were supposed waiting to and quickly made their way there before the Chief continued the meeting.
"That was fast," Hongxin commented once they managed to return back. He wasn't expecting Kaine to reply but he did anyway.
"It was just a few simple questions."
Simple questions only? Hongxin highly doubt that when he has seen the looks on the chief. But it wasn't right for him to ask that man so he kept quiet and nodded his head.
"Ehem," Ri Minsu coughed a bit and cleared his voice. "Attention everyone!"
With just two words, all of the villagers turned their attention to the chief.
∆
"The killing weapon," Kaine paused, his eyes fixated on the wound before he continued, "based on the wound it could only mean one thing,"
The rest of them stared at him in anticipation.
"A dagger was used as the killing weapon."
Ri Minsu's mouth gaped open and closed as if trying to say something but nothing came out while the others exclaimed in shock.
"Dagger? How would you know such things?" the chief quickly asked the young man. Suspicion was displayed clearly on their faces. Kaine looked at them and put on a mocking smile.
"Now, don't jump off assuming I'm the killer just because I'm more knowledgeable than most of you. I just have a very vast knowledge with weapons and magic" His eyes squint a little from the big smile on his face. What he said was half true, The West Kingdom truly prioritize weaponry and man power, claiming it's best to be at their fullest for any threats coming.
Hongxin just returned after he examined the other rooms and seeing the tension, he hesitated a bit. Uncle Suman noticed this and burped loudly,
"Ah, this old man feels so tired after all that walking~ now all my body feels like it's filled with air! Ah too bad, too bad,"
Quickly, all eyes were on both of them who stood by the door. Hongxin panicked a little with the attention given while Uncle Suman just let out a loud and contagious laugh.
"Seriously! Suman!!" one of the men sighed, but a small curve brightened up his face when his eyes landed on Suman's accidentally goofy face. The others joined and laughed at Uncle Suman's antique.
This situation is exactly what you could see at any coffee shops when they're hanging out together, just old men and their old jokes. Hongxin face softens at the sight he would usually see in the morning before. After the laugh slowly turns down, Hongxin took this opportunity to explain.
"I've searched the whole area with Uncle Suman and we found no traces of blood or any possible murder weapons…"
Ri Minsu quickly chirped in, "Don't worry, this guy figured out the murder weapon! It was—"
"A dagger that has been infused with magical powers." Kaine finished the sentence.
"Tsk tsk, cutting an old man's words, surely not going to be my daughter's husband candidate." one of the villager that has been looking at them said.
Despite the groups attempts to piss him off, Kaine simply ignored them and asked Hongxin,
"Hongxin, do you know basic magic? Or do you have had any practice in spiritual cultivation?"
He replied with a small shake on his head. "I don't know such things…" Deep in his heart he felt ashamed for not knowing any of it.
"It's okay, it's better for you to not know it for now." A slender hand patted on the shorter boy's shoulder. Hongxin was puzzled at his words but he buried his intention to ask the man.
Turning his heels towards the chief of the village who has been quiet all this time, Kaine asked,
"Call everyone who knows how to use magic even if it's basic, those who practices spiritual cultivation and such. Including you if you're one."
Ri Minsu eyes widen for a second, probably in his mind goes something around 'why does he act like he's the one ruling this place? Who's the chief here?' but that man perfectly put on a smile and said, "Can't wait to see what you're planning." After all, he's the one agreeing to let the traveller help them.
After the chief went away, Kaine looked over the group of old men. "Any of you know how practices magic or cultivate?"
They all shook their heads in unison. One of the men added, "Actually, our village used to have someone who goes around and teaches us but he just disappeared the day after that."
Hongxin overheard that and remembered the man who had urged him to learn his ways of teaching when he was out gathering herbs and he promised to come by tomorrow because he said he was busy. He closed his eyes and reminisce again.
*
"Young lad, you hold such powerful inner power. It's a waste to not culture it properly..."
"I'm sorry uncle. I'm too busy for today, maybe I'll come tomorrow." The boy replied while picking up the herbs that sprouted on the forest's floor.
The cultivator seemed to be taken aback when Hongxin referred him as 'uncle'. The man however seemed hesitant to give up and Hongxin quickly added,
"Don't worry! I'll promise to attend your... magic class tomorrow!" Hearing that, the cloaked man finally gleamed and walked away.
*
Yet that man was nowhere to be found the next day later. So that's why he didn't show up, he just disappeared like that. Maybe he had moved on somewhere to find more willing disciples.
Kaine lazily replied, "probably he had migrated to somewhere else. Well, he's not important now."
While waiting for the chief to come back, they all sat outside the house waiting. Hongxin came closer to the blond man who was sitting on the wooden swing in the corner and asked,
"I'm wondering…How do you know the murder weapon, dagger is it?" Kaine nodded at Hongxin's words. "..was infused with magic?" he continued.
"Well, I'm quite knowledgeable in weapons and martial arts. Just by a look of the wounds I can know what kind of weapons used." Taking a deep breath of the fresh air outside, he continued, "Importantly, I can sense a trace of magic being used on the victims body."
"Oh, that's extremely useful...!" Hongxin's eyes widened, "You're even capable of sensing something like that. That's fascinating!"
The man nodded slowly; his eyes closed. "And that narrows down on who's the possible killer."
The sole child stares in awe. "Impressive!" Words of praises doesn't seemed to stop flowing from his mouth.
The other villagers looks relieved, as Kaine would surely find the true killer and ultimately clear their names.
"Well the hard part is tracing back the magic to its master. Some are really sly, like putting on a huge amount of magic on someone else so they won't get framed."
"Ah, I see. Well, at least we have progress!" Hongxin exclaimed.
Kaine nodded and he walked past Hongxin, heading towards a wooden swing nearby them. "Here, have a seat. They might be longer than we expected."
Hongxin carefully moved inside the wooden swing and took a seat across the man. "This swing... I used to learn crafting from Aunt Nan Yu's husband, Uncle Lee. This was actually considered as my first craft, assisted by late uncle Lee of course. Sitting here brings back memories,"
Kaine's eyesbrowa lifted at the information and replied, "No wonder it looks so good."
Hongxin's face beamed and he excitedly replied, "I know right?, it's all thanks to late Uncle Lee's craftsmanship!"
Kaine tilted his head sideways, eyes never leave the one in front of him. As if trying to read something out of him.
"I never knew how to craft anything, I hope you don't mind teaching me a few after this."
Panicking, he quickly tried to change the subject. "Hahaha..! Sure! Um, actually, I never met you before despite we're living in the same area though I do hear some...uh… rumors about you. I believe our first time meeting back was back there at my house." He tried hard to hide his nervousness but the red tint on his cheeks betrayed his efforts. Having someone willingly to learn something from him just made Hongxin's heart fluttered excitedly. He always wanted to try and teach just like Uncle Lee.
"...Ah yes, that was indeed our first time meeting. I'm truly sorry if I left a bitter taste when we first met." Kaine closed his eyes before looking back into Hongxin's eyes. He added, "Then, are you curious about me?"
"Yup! You looked like an interesting person, also because I'd never thought I'd see anyone around my age here again after the migration." Hongxin explained about the migration of young people to Kaine for a bit.
The man smiled softly and replied, "Then, where shall we start...?" Kaine looked at the bushes of flowers nearby and continued in a low voice, "I actually really love flowers. Camellias, especially."
"Oh, same! They look especially pretty when they bloom during the winter. Thankfully winter is near so we can see them soon together."
"I'm looking forward to that." The blond rocked the swing slowly with his feet before continuing, "I'm sure you know that I'm from the West Empire, right?"
Hongxin nodded. His hair is enough to give it off.
"Actually, I'm not purely West. My mother was from the east while my father's actually from the west."
When he said that, Hongxin noticed the distinct features of both empires on him. He stared at the man in front of him for a long time before the other returned his gaze back with a smile.
"I didn't know…" Hongxin curtly replied.
"It's shocking to hear marriage between different empires, right?"
Hongxin nodded. in fact he heard about how the West Empire restricted all of their people to marry anyone outside their kingdom to prevent any 'casualties.' Despite the so called peace, the empire seemed to have a bottling tumors inside the royalties with the case of the ghost prince.
Hongxin quietly said, "Maybe when it comes to true love, backgrounds truly don't hold a meaning. I think it's pretty when someone could love anyone so truthfully like that."
"For me, I have never met my father, and my mother doesn't like me reminding her about him. So I supposed I'm purely from the East, looking from my mother's features and myself."
When he felt the tension grew thicker, Hongxin forced out a laugh to lighten up the situation and asked Kaine another question. "So what brings you here? Did you went here for travelling?"
There were no replies and he felt something coming closer to him, Hongxin looked up and saw Kaine's face inching closer. Camellia's fragrance wafted into Hongxin's nose.
"There's something stuck on your head," Kaine said, picking something up and returning back to his seat. In his hands, a small ladybug rested on it.
Hongxin put one of his hands on his head and laughed nervously, "Hahaha! How did it even get up there!"
The bug quickly flew out from his hands, disappearing in an instant.
Kaine looked away into the distance.
"You asked why did I come here...right?"
Hongxin held his breath when the playful tone of Kaine's voice was dropped.
"I came here... to fulfill an oath I've made."
In that moment, Hongxin could only look at the man Infront of him quietly. There was something, like a turmoil, inside his own head... or heart?
He don't know. But he feels like forgetting something that wasn't even there.
Suddenly, Kaine turned his head downside and apologized quietly.
"Um, you mentioned you never met your father... Did he passed away when you're young?"
"Ah, no. My mother said he left us when I was still a baby."
Kaine seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a second before he quickly whipped out a pained smile. "...I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's alright~ It's alright~" Hongxin flapped his hands. "I was still small so I don't have any attachment to my father. Well, I'm more to curious about his reason leaving to be frank."
Kaine lifted one of his eyebrows, "Oh? Why is that?"
"You see," Hongxin started seriously, "My mother is a pretty woman and I was told that I am a healthy baby boy. We're not even that poor too, so why did he left us? I just couldn't get my mind to it.." He couldn't help but pouted at the fact that his mother didn't deserve to have a husband like that.
"Well! that was his lost anyways! my mom's a good woman!"
Kaine just smiled at his statement and leaned on the seat, rocking the swing. He didn't deny the words nor he agree with it.
They both enjoyed the breeze together in silence, accepting each other's presence for a while.
"I…" the boy started, "Thank you for staying and hearing me talk randomly like this. Ah, when I think about it this is the first time I've talked too much?" Hongxin let out a laugh yet his heart feel somewhat bitter.
Those are not even his friends except for Yuri… but does she even thought of him as his friend? Or was she just sympathising with him from Fei's taunts? Honestly, its was his fault for always turning down her offers and now he felt like shouldn't be considered as anybody's friend. No matter how he remembered the free time he had spent with some if the teens before, he always felt like there was something between them.
"It's alright, a friend doesn't mean they should always be with each other all the time. Everyone has their own path, so they might part away but the bond wouldn't ever disappear." Kaine rested his back on the swing, making it bounce a little. "And, if you don't mind, I would like to get know you better too."
Hearing those words, Hongxin's eyes glittered and he quickly turned his head low from the man's gaze.
Does that mean he considered me as a friend?
Brimming with ecstatic, the shorter boy asked, looking back at the man's face.
"Sure!! by the way, I'm going to be 19 this year, what about you?"
"17."
Hongxin gaped. 17?! His body and face looks way older than that! Not only that, the big height gap between them made the shorter boy felt embarrassed speaking out his age.
Almost sound like a whisper, he replied, "Why is he so tall..."
Kaine's eyes lighten up and he let out a small laugh at the sight. "Don't be shy about it, Hongxin~ one day you will surely become taller."
Hearing how his tone sounded like consoling a child, Hongxin's face turned redder than the tomatoes he had planted. Thank goodness he didn't call him , or Hongxin will surely smack him on his back.
"Please don't..." Hongxin quietly spoke.
Kaine laughed softly and replied, "Well, next time make sure you marry someone with West bloodline. We've got big genes."
Hongxin's face has turned so red he felt like his face is stretching to his side. How does this topic suddenly went to marriage? And what does he meant by big genes?!
"Ah, they've arrived." Kaine eyes fell on the group of the villagers moving towards them. Hongxin turned his head back and saw the dissatisfied faces displayed on their faces.
"Hongxin, let's go?" Hongxin turned towards the voice calling him and was greeted by a hand offered to him. Without thinking any further, he took the hand and replied, "Let's go!"
∆
Ri Minsu was standing beside Kaine in front of the group of villagers. The first group, Uncle Suman and the others decided to stay and watch them from behind quietly. After knowing they are free from being the suspects, they seemed to be more relaxed. On the contrary, the one who just arrived had faces pale as if their souls got sucked out. What a turn of events.
Hongxin sat with Uncle Suman and quietly observed with them too.
"Kid, are you friends with that boy?" the old man asked.
"Kaine?" Hongxin replied for a confirmation.
"His name is Kaine? Ho... Nice name."
Hongxin let out a soft sigh, "Yes, it sounds so cool just like the owner."
"So you all know the reason youre here right?" Kaine crossed his arms, his voice cold as ice. it was far different from when he used to talk to Hongxin and hearing that, it made the boy surprised by his change of demeanor. They were talking for a bit but Hongxin's mind suddenly drifted away, thinking about his mother. Mother probably in the hall still, since both of them are just your everyday villagers.
The retaliations by the group caught Hongxin from his thoughts.
"Just because we know how to use magic doesn't mean we are the culprit!!"
"Yes!! Shame on you for accusing us!!!"
Ri Minsu's vein popped in his forehead as he forced a smile. "Now, now, please cooperate with us first!"
A few grunts and harsh words could be heard from them but no one shows any disagreements. Even at this situation, the villagers still respected and heard the chief's orders. Noting that the situation had calmed down a bit, Kaine crossed his arms and stared at the villagers with an indifferent expression.
"So, traveller," the chief turned to him, "you mentioned to me about the killer is someone who could manipulate magic and used a dagger. Are we interrogating each of them?"
"No need for such works. I can just decapitate their heads off right now if I have confirmed their magic traces."
Hearing the word 'decapitate', the faces of the villagers turned pale.
Hongxin's mouth gaped open and he quickly thought, 'He did mention that it narrows down to the killer, but wouldn't that take a lot of time to make sure the magic traces are correct?'
Also decapitation right off when he found it?
How can he be so powerful?! Wait no, this isn't something Hongxin should be amazed now. He quickly scanned the scene to make sure his mother isn't here to witness a decapitation thing, and knowing his mother wasn't here spectating he sighed in relieve.
Ri Minsu was the first to quickly talk against him. "Are you crazy?! What do you think, decapitating a person?! Which law are you following! That's too far!"
Kaine however only replied with a small 'oh' and his eyes dimmed a bit before he hummed and nod his head.
"Then, please enlighten me with the rightful law of this land."